Material spreader hitch



Jufiy 16, 1946. c. L. GEORGE ET AL MATERIAL SPREADER HITCH Filed Feb. 26. 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 A5 L. m M

.Fufly 16, 14. c. L EORGE ETAL 2,403,973

MA'IEHiAL SPREADER HITCH I Filed Feb. 26, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L d k Earl MBen Patented July 16, 1946 Findlay, Ohio, assignors to. TheiBnckeyetTrac- 'tion Ditcher Company, Findlay, "Ohio, -a corpo- Tationof- Ohio Application February 26, 1944,:SerialiNo. i523,9'12

IClaim. 11 a .'Ihis.inventionc relates to' hitch. orecouplinglfde- .vices i particularlylfor .use .insdetachably ..couplin;g taltowed vehicle such, ,for example, asta material spreader, vto a towing .vehicle .such, for example, asanvautomob'ile truck. orvthe. like.

An :object is to produce. a; hitchfof theabove Jcharacter which ris-relativelyv simple and inex- ,pen'si-ve "to manufacture .and assemble, easy .to operate; and .is' thoroughly reliable particularly lwherethe towing vehicle is, iromtime .to-,time, v. euttdf alignment: with the towed vehicle.

.Another'object is'to produce a hitch of this character which is adjustable to accommodate the-(different truck .mountings and "which is so :constructed :andarranged -that the towed and ,towingr-vehicles .can assume different angular epositions relative to each other without unduly straining the hitchor rendering:itrunsatisfactory.

Other objects and advantages ofthe invention will hereinaftenappearl andiorpurposes of illustration. butv .noti'of limitation, arr-embodiment For .the invention shoum in J. the accompanying drawingsin-which Qliigure, 1 is afra'gmentaryJ-frontend elev'ation lof .a material l spreader gwith the .hitch :or coupling device-carried by thetowedvehicle.-mounted in place thereon :Figure '2 ista -topplan=view partly in section showing l-the ,hitch structure on nthe --material spreader :connected to the hitch bar carried-by the towinguvehicle such as .an automobile truck;

,Figure3 Lisean enlarged -verticalzsectionalelevationsof the hitchgonzthe' material spreader showing ;the coupling bar :on the I towing vehicle 1- prior toa-beingrcoupled @to the material spreader i hitch; and

'Figure 4 is a-yertical: sectional viewzof the ma- -teriala-spreader hitchitaken vertically through: the center ofthe-hitchshowing :theatru'ck mounted barrinisposltion.

:The zlillustrated :embodiment of :the invention comprises ,a material spreader r generally :desi'gnateflzzat i-A. '.-1Since athe r'strilcture "O'fithe :material tspitealderzformsz'no ipart "of-the aipresent zinvention, detail illustratioxrthereof is not considered-necessary. su'ifice it to say that the -material spreader may be of the character used for spreading crushed stone over ahighway, and in general comprises ahopper like'structure into which the crushed stone is delivered and from the bottom of which the stone is uniformly spread along the highway as the spreader moves. The spreaders are mounted on wheels. Ordinarily two sets of wheels on a common axis are arranged, one set on each end of the spreader box or hopper. The

J2 r-spreadenis "towed usually -.by :a-truck to which it is gdetachably accoupled tor hitched, this invention being concerned primarily with the hitchtor coupling, device: for; connecting: the material-:- spreader to the truck orother towing vehicle.

sAs shown, the :material spreader :A:has a front .--a"rear ;horizontally disposed plate I,3,-the ends of-whichieXtende-on opposite sides tor-the: slot l I Themlate is :disposed in abutment iwith the front [face of :thespreader wall--10 and: securelylfixe'd as l by welding; to a the opposite ends of the 1 rear -plate i=3 are' iork members 5 M. The fork members ll extend at substantially right angles forwardly v of the: :rear plate M zandzthes front" endi of I each :forkv "member has; an outwardly fiaring'mouth'. f5 which :terminates 1111a,BIOdr-IECEiVlIlgJlOtCh l6 whichgasg particularly; shown-in .--Figur es 3 and .4, is vertically 'relongate. t-It rshould "be noted that rthe flaredrmouth l5cof1eaclrfforkr member has an ruppertan'd lowerucurvilinear:contact surface .to :"facilitate" the i-engagement-i of tthe truck mounted rrod as willtherein-after'iappear.

wfinz-thesinnerssid'e: of: each fork 'member M, and close ijuxtapositionthereto,; israrhook shaped Elatch 11:1; thev'innerrend 2 of whichr'is's'pirme'd-lto sa horizontally vdisp'osed ilatch scontrol 'ilOd Ha :so ithatvi'rotation' fif thei'iod Ma 1 in ai-clockwise :direetion (Figures 3fand24yrtracts the latch? tolenable the truck 'mounted 'icoupling-zbar' to engage in the notches =1 6.: or to bezreleaseditherefrom,1 as .willsbe rreadily apparent. The latch control'rod' l'lusextends horizontally to near one: end of "the material ispreader A: and i has an out' turn'ed end =portionito form an"operating'crankihandleiorffacili- 'tating actuation of *the' latches adjacent one end 'of 'thematerial spreader. Attached 1 to the "front wall l 0 of mama-renal spreader-is a P guide flb which {forms swith the 'front 'wall no; a vertical guide forthe control rod I la.

flEn the latched position of the latches l' l, "the ma ma engages ar'stop 18 =which is in theiorm of a sleeve -moun'ted on abolt-which is-secured to both fork members l4. Spring means is provided for normally urging the hook-shaped latches l'l into engagement with the stop l8. For this purpose, an angle bar 2| is fixed at its opposite ends respectively to the inner sides of the latches l1. One flange of the angle bar is apertured for slldingly receiving a spring mounting arm 22. The inner end of the arm 22 is pivoted at 23 to a bracket fixed to the rear latch plate I3. On the arm 22 is a coil spring 24. It will thus be manifest that rocking of the latches I! in a clockwise direction (Figure 4) compresses the coil spring 24 which serves to urge the latches II against the stop I8.

Suitably fixed to the rear end of the towing vehicle such as an automobile truck, are a pair of laterally spaced depending bracket arms 29 and secured to the lower ends of the arms 20 is a horizontally disposed rod I9 which, as indicated in Figures 1 and 2, extends laterally a substantial distance beyond the fork members I4, the vertically disposed bracket arms being spaced also laterally from the fork members I4. In practice,

the truck or towing vehicle is backed into the material spreader and the rod I9 engages in the notch I1 when in latched position.

Arranged directly in rear of the rear plate I3 of the latch'is an annular disc 25 which is disposed within the vertically elongate slot I I of the material spreader wall II). The disc 25 fits within the slot I I in such manner that it can move vertically therein and the curvature I2 generally corresponds to the curvature of the disc.

Formed on the rear face of the material spreader wall I!) is a pair of vertically disposed guide plates 26 which are spaced from each other a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the disc 25. By inspection of the drawings, it will be observed that the disc 25 not only is slidably mounted within the vertical slot I I, but also moves between the vertical plates 26 which assist in guiding the movement of the latch assembly. In abutment with the rear face of the disc 25 is a back plate 21 which is horizontally disposed with its ends terminating substantially flush with theouter edges of the guide plates 25. The rear plate I3 of the latch assembly, the annular disc 25, and the back plate 21 are secured together by a bolt and nut assembly 28. The bolt and nut assembly 28 also secures an actuating link 29 arranged directly in rear of the back plate 21.

The actuating link 29 extends downwardly and is pivoted at its lower end to an arm 30 of a bell crank. The bell crank is mounted upon a pivot 3| which is carried by the lower portion of the material spreader wall I9, it being understood that these parts are arranged rearwardly of the material spreader wall I9. The other arm 32 of the bell crank is vertically disposed and is pivoted at its upper end to a horizontally disposed telescoping screw-threaded operating rod assembly 33. This assembly extends laterally to one end of the material spreader and is equipped with a crank handle 34. Manifestly by turning the crank handle 34 in one direction or the other, the

latch assembly carried by the material spreader I is either moved upwardly or downwardly according to the direction of rotation for positioning the fork members and associated parts in the desired position convenient for engagement with the horizontal bar I9 carried by the towing vehicle. When the assembly is adjusted to the desired position and the towing vehicle backed into desired position, it will be understood that the latch control rod Ila is actuated to rock the latches I 1 upwardly to permit the rod I9 to be moved into position, whereupon the rod Ila is released and the coil spring 24 rocks the latches to latching position, such as illustrated on Figure 4.

As above mentioned, the truck mounted rod I9 projects a substantial distance laterally of each of the fork members I I. In fact, the rod I9 projects laterally of the vertically disposed bracket arms 20 and adjacent each of these latthe other of the rod I9 will engage the adl'acent brace bar or bumper, thereby to assist in causing the material spreader A to be brought again into alignment with the towing vehicle It will be understood that the notch IG-in the fork members I4 is so shaped as to allow a certain amount of angular movement'of the rod I9'both in a horizontal direction as well as in a vertical direction, thus to afford a limited amount of lost motion during the turning of the towing vehicle in one direction or the other, or in the event that the towing vehicle encounters a depression'or raised position on the road surface.

It will be understood that numerous changes in details of construction, arrangement and operation may be effected without departing from the spirit of the invention especially as defined in the appended claim.

What we claim is:

A hitch for material spreaders comprising in combination with a spreader body having a vertically elongate slot curved at the top and bottom ends, an annular disc fitting said slot and slidable vertically therein, a back plate abutting said disc and disclosed on the inside of said body, a latch housing on the outside of said body and arranged adjacent said disc, a boltand nut assembly common to said latch housing, disc and back plate for holding such assembly rigidly together, vertical guide plates fixed to the inside of said body on opposite sides of and in guiding relation to said disc, said back plate extending laterally beyond opposite sides of said disc in abutting relation to said guide plates respectively, link and lever means for vertically adjusting said latch housing, disc and back plate assembly, a movable latch in said latch housing, manual means for actuating said latch, a horizontally disposed bar fixed to the towing vehicle, and engageable in said latch housing, said bar projecting a substantial distance on opposite sides of said latch housing, and brace bars on the outside of the spreader body wall in position to be engaged by the projecting end portions of said bar respectively when the spreader is out of alignment with respect to the towing vehicle.

CHARLES L. GEORGE. ROBERT N. BENNETT. 

